the place for all things…well maybe not all things

Well I haven’t been doing too much on YouTube recently as I have been busy with work and my other hobby which is Fiverr! Now I was quite sceptical at first because I thought fiverr was mostly about pretty girls holding signs to advertise websites. Now although this is true there are an extraordinary amount of talented people who offer great gigs!

I decided that being a guitarist and having some free time I would try and create a gig and see just how hard it was to make money. Now the first thing to remember is… you aren’t going to be buying your house with fiverr… but you could be buying yourself some extra clothes or enjoying a few pints curtosy of it. Now although I am very talented (laughing as I type that) trying to actually think of the fiverr gig is the first hurdle to overcome. I think the question you have to ask yourself is “Would i pay $5 for that?” and also “Jeez I spent 20 hours on this and made $5 that means I worked for 0.25cents and hour!!”.

Secret 1

Make sure your gig is something you would pay for and not take the whole day to create.

I am lucky in the way I have something creative I can offer others, but looking at what sells on fiverr it seems many people possess the creative gene even without playing or drawing anything. Many people offer video reviews or voiceovers which can be produced quite quickly aslong as you have a decent microphone and a quiet room to record in. If you can be enthusiastic about a product or a service and like the sound of your own voice… well it would be a good place to start

Secret 2

You must be patient… I repeat you must be patient!

Fiverr do give some giggers a much easier ride especially those who get featured, but they all started at the bottom so credit where credit is due. Do not give up hope of your gig becoming popular as all it takes is someone who needs your service. I waited over 2 months to get my first gig on fiverr and my best advice is create a video for your gig for a personal touch and make your gig sound intriguing because who hasn’t ordered something new off the menu because it sounded nice?

Secret 3

When opportunity knocks… answer the email!

When you do get your first gig order it really is time to make that customer know how special they are. They have put complete faith in you to deliver something they will love, be it a silly sketch or their name carved out of a pumpkin. I know that this is only $5 but the facts are if you deliver something good you will be pleased to show it off as an example of your work, but more importantly you will have a positive review. I see many gigs and as soon as you see “negative feedback” it is the first thing people check. Why? Well because they want to know was the product rubbish, did the seller get it all wrong? What you have to remember although $5 is not a lot of money, humans aren’t going to chuck $5 in the bin so they do have expectations.

Secret 4

Don’t be afraid…. you might just like it

I have been asked to do a lot of guitar things on Fiverr but must admit I have turned things down. Why did you turn down $5??? Well because the buyer had expectations that were just too grand for $5. You have to remember your time is worth money and if you created a gig which you think is worth $5 if a buyer wants more… then they will just have to pay for another gig. For example my guitar gig is 30 seconds for $5 and although I can add extras being a level 1 seller… I would rather just work at that rate. Now this is simply “one guitar, 30 seconds” and not “two guitars, 30 seconds” or “this track is 45 seconds”. If it is 45 seconds long then it is two gigs because those are my prices. Do not think that the buyers are the only ones in control, if you think the work requires more time then reply stating “I would love to do the gig but for what you want, it will need to be 2 gigs because…..”. Most buyers will read it and thank you for telling them and usually stump up the extra because hey they did contact you in the first place!

Why should I listen to you?

You have my total permission to disregard everything I have said. There are plenty of people on Fiverr who are much higher ranked than me with hundreds of reviews. The point being I don’t really care about providing hundreds of guitar tracks, I like the thought of someone in Canada or USA listening to what I have done and saying “jeez thats actually really good”. I am about to tip over the $100 mark on Fiverr and although it has taken around 6 months (not including the first 2 months waiting for that elusive first gig) I have enjoyed doing the guitar parts. I am not going to be rolling in a bentley anytime soon but I’ve had a few pints each month courtesy of my guitar and the internet and I got to play my guitar.